The Palace fights back

Do you want to know what really happened? What really happened was that Dr Mahathir made two attempts to take on the Palace and both attempts failed miserably. However, so as not to ‘lose face’, they spun a story that Dr Mahathir took on the Palace so that he could reduce the powers of the Rulers. And they spun a story that Umno succeeded in doing that. And the gullible Malaysians swallowed this propaganda hook, line and sinker and celebrated this ‘success’.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

A statement issued by His Highness Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, the Sultan of Johor, via his private secretary, Jaba Mohd Noah, said that Tee Siew Kiong of MCA’s appointment as an EXCO member was the Sultan’s choice and that it was His Highness’s right to choose the line-up of the state executive council members under Phase 4 Section II of the Johor State Constitution 1895.

All parties, including MCA party members and leaders, were asked to respect Sultan Ibrahim’s decision and that they should not question His Highness’s authority and power as the Sultan of Johor.

His Highness Sultan Ibrahim is not required to seek anyone’s opinion or suggestion before appointing his preferred state executive council members' line-up nor does any need arise for His Highness to explain the reason for the appointments.

Whatever issue pertaining to MCA should stay within the party and Tee’s appointment by His Highness the Sultan of Johor as an executive council member should never be questioned or politicised.

Even though Tee may be sacked from his party he is still an executive council member appointed by the Sultan of Johor. His Highness the Sultan of Johor does not wish to interfere in the affairs of any political party and also does not want any political party to interfere in Johor State affairs.

So there you have it. His Highness the Sultan of Johor has spoken up, as have a few other Rulers of late. And did you notice that they ‘speak’ through an official palace spokesman and not directly to the media like politicians normally do.

So, yes, Malaysia may be a Constitutional Monarchy but that does not mean the Rulers are rubber-stamp monarchs with absolutely no power and authority whatsoever.

The fact that most times the Rulers choose to remain silent should not be interpreted as them having no power or authority. In fact, Their Highnesses have immense power because they are all Colonels-in-Chief of the various branches of the military while His Majesty the Agong is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

Did you notice one more thing? The Johor State Constitution of 1895 has been quoted as the reference. This goes back to the time of pre-Malaya when Malaya did not exist yet and what existed were the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States.

And note one very crucial point here: they were called ‘Malay States’.

Would anyone like to challenge this? Maybe MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PKR or DAP would like to challenged this in court. I know Umno and PAS would not dare do that. The Rulers are head of Islam so to challenge the powers and authority of the Rulers would be to challenge the head of Islam. And the last thing Umno and PAS would want to do is to challenge the head of Islam.

It is time that the non-Malays from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat wake up to this reality. There is a limit to how far you can push the envelope, so to speak. Push too hard and someone will start to push back. And you may not have noticed it but some of the Rulers are beginning to push back although some are doing it very subtly and without creating too much waves. But they are pushing back, have no doubts about that.

So how do you handle this? Well, first of all, you cannot challenge the Rulers head on. If you do then you expose Malaysia to a very real risk of a civil war. And show me one civil war where the rakyat does not suffer. Instead you have to handle this the way the politicians around the time of Merdeka handled it. They learned how to delicately navigate the very complex and sensitive palace-politics shark-infested waters.

Some say Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad changed all that 30 years ago back in the 1980s. Some even say if there is one good thing that Dr Mahathir did was that he reduced the powers of the Rulers.

Is that so? If so, then tell which of the powers of the Rulers that Dr Mahathir removed? List down all those powers of the Rulers that Dr Mahathir removed? Give me the details.

Actually, other than laws passed by Parliament automatically becoming law whether His Majesty the Agong did or did not sign the Bill, there are no other powers of the Rulers that had been reduced or removed. None! Zilch!

Do you want to know what really happened? What really happened was that Dr Mahathir made two attempts to take on the Palace and both attempts failed miserably. However, so as not to ‘lose face’, they spun a story that Dr Mahathir took on the Palace so that he could reduce the powers of the Rulers. And they spun a story that Umno succeeded in doing that. And the gullible Malaysians swallowed this propaganda hook, line and sinker and celebrated this ‘success’.

So why are you all celebrating the so-called ‘good thing’ that Dr Mahathir was alleged to have done? That was the one and only thing that happened. And do you really think this is a good thing?

What happens if Parliament passes a law that says Muslims who leave Islam can be sent to jail, Christians who preach Christianity to Muslims can be sent to jail, Muslims who do not follow Sunni Islam but Shia Islam can be sent to jail, and whatnot? And what happens if His Majesty the Agong refuses to sign this Bill into law?

Well, it does not matter because with or without His Majesty’s signature it would still become law anyway. So, is this ‘good thing’ that Dr Mahathir did really good after all? Do you still want to celebrate that ‘good move’?

Do you know that you have just removed the ‘check-and-balance’ that the British created? The British wanted to prevent the creation of a Malaysian Oliver Cromwell. Dr Mahathir wanted to be Malaysia’s Oliver Cromwell. And you celebrate that and think it is a good idea?

Do you know what Oliver Cromwell did to Ireland because the Irish were ‘different’ Christians? Oliver Cromwell was anti-Catholic but King Charles I was too sympathetic to the Catholics. So they removed the powers of the King and slaughtered the Catholics in Ireland.

Why do you think until today there is still trouble in Ireland? The Irish have never forgotten and forgiven what the English did to them almost 400 years ago. And now the Sunni Malays of Malaysia can do to the Shias what the Puritans in England did to the Catholics 400 years ago.

By the way, did you read the report that said PAS would sack any member, leaders included, who are suspected of not following Sunni Islam? Welcome to Iraq. Welcome to Beirut. Welcome to England of the 1600s.

So, can the Rulers who are head of Islam stop this injustice? Not if Parliament makes this into law and it becomes law even if His Majesty the Agong does not sign the Bill.

Oh, I have a good idea. Why not we abolish the Monarchy entirely and turn Malaysia into a Republic so that Barisan Nasional need not share power with the Palace. If that happens you will wish you were living here in Manchester with me rather than back in Malaysia. Yes, let’s turn Malaysia into a Republic like many of you want. That would be fun for whoever controls Parliament.